After the Fall: Chapter 8 (Roy x Ed)
Title: After the Fall, Chapter 8
Author: SeaweedOtter
Characters: Roy x Ed and some implied Roy x Hughes...
Rating: R to NC-17 overall for language and nudity- (PG-13 for this chapter)
Warnings: The story goes somewhat AU after the end of episode 25 in the anime. I am still sort of keeping to canon events.
Summary: After the funeral for Maes Hughes, Roy was feeling rather... vulnerable.
Copyrights: The characters obviously belong to their creators, not me.
Author's notes: The first 5 chapters were pretty short, and I was finally starting to get some meat to the story with longer chapters. Sorry this chapter is kinda short again, but I had to end it where I did. I promise I will make the next one longer again, and sorry it took so long to update!
Read all the parts of the story so far HERE!
It took every ounce of Roy's willpower to get dressed that morning. His mind was still a whirl with what had transpired over the last 24 hours. It was all so much- and that didn't help the headache that he was already developing from the scotch he had imbibed the night before.
Getting out of the shower was a bit awkward. Roy had left first to let Ed think for a few minutes. Despite being very unsure that leaving an unstable at best Edward Elric to think about such volatile things, he was pretty sure that staying with him would be worse.
Roy had gotten dressed in record time, making sure he was already out of the bedroom by the time Ed eventually left the bathroom. He had a half hearted attempt at breakfast already made and plated for Ed when he entered the room- more silent
that he had ever seen the moody teen- with quickly whipped up eggs and toast.
Ed, the notoriously ever hungry Ed, hardly touched his meal and had left quickly after, making some excuse about his brother needing him and some work that he had to get done. Roy couldn't help but watch Ed walk down the winding path from his doorway to the road. He had insisted on calling Havoc to give him a a ride, but Ed wouldn't hear of it.
"Stubborn idiot." Roy mumbled under his breath, a smile on his face while he watched Ed's blonde ponytail skip and and forth between his shoulderblades with each uneven step. He watched untill Ed had turned the corner and faded out of view.
"Good lord, I think I might like that damn stubborn idiot." He shook his head and turned around, closing the door softly behind him.
It was going to be a long day.
________________________________________________________________________
"How are you doing, sir?" Hawkeye asked with genuine concern when Roy stepped into the office, his hair still lightly wet and mostly disheveled. "You know, you were told that you didn't have to come in today. We understand."
Roy smiled gently. His head was pounding from the alchohol he had consumed last night, and spinning the morning. He walked past the surprised and confused looks of his fellow soldiers and towards his office door. "It's okay, Hawkeye. I need to keep working. I can't dwell on..." he paused, his smile dropping.. "on what happened. I have to keep going, for him."
'For him.' Roy thought. For Hughes, or for that short alchemist who had already wormed his way into his mind? He gently rubbed his temples and quickly grabbed a glass of the black water that someone claimed was coffee on the way into his office, closing the door lightly.
It was definatly going to be a long day.
___________________________________________________________________________
"Brother, are you alright? I know you were at Colonel Mustang's yesterday. He... didn't say or do anything to upset you, did he?"
"No, Al. it is fine. I guess I just didn't think that Lt. Col- er, Brigadeer General Hughes' death would affect me so much. I guess it just took a day for it to sink in."
"Oh, okay." Al slumped his giant shoulders. Ed could hear the sadness in his tinny voice. It was almost like it was just hitting him as well. "But.. you would tell me if something was wrong- right brother?"
"Of course, Al."
"Okay."
Ed sighed. He hated lying to his brother, but trying to explain to him what had happened the night before wasn't something that he could do right now. He wasn't even sure what he thought about it himself. At least his brother didn't seem to see thru his ruse. He was still the sweet, gentle, naive brother that he had been before he was turned into a giant tin can. He wasnt a manipulative bastard, like the man Ed worried that might he have been getting feelings for.
Ed sighed. All of this was putting him in a rather bad mood.
_____________________________________________________________________________
Roy rubbed his temples again, reading the letter on the official stationary with the State seal. He was being sent back to Central. At least he had been able to convince the general that he should be able to take a few of his subordinates with him.
He smiled as he looked at the chess set that now graced his desk. Somehow, he got the feeling that game had been almost TOO easily won.
He picked up one of the white pawns, turning it gently over in his hand, running his calloused finger over the nooks and crannies of the scrimshawed game piece. "A pawn." he said, to his empty office.
He shrugged and put the piece back down with the rest. "I guess it doesn't matter either way. This should be a step up for me. I know I need to keep going, and Central is my best chance to continue with my plan. Maes wouldn't want me to stop now." He sighed, a frown working its way onto his tired face.
"Now.. what to do with Edward Elric..."
___________________________________________________________________________
Any further thoughts were interrupted by voices from the outside office a short time later. "You can't come in here!" he heard Hawkeye the stern, commanding voice that she usually reserved for Roy when he was procrastinating (yet again) on getting his paperwork done.
"Where are they?" He heard another woman's voice, a voice Roy didn't recognize.
"I don't know." Hawkeye replied. Roy had already pulled his white glove with the red salamander array embroidered on the back out of the drawer in his desk, where it always hid, and onto his hand. In a heartbeat, he was out the door and quickly assessing the situation- his finger already poised to strike if needed.
In the room was his normal group of subordinates. They were all standin-, Fuery was at the phone, finger on the rotary, about to call someone. Havoc, as usual, just looked dumbfounded. Falman and Breda were wearing about the same look as Havoc. Hawkeye, brave and always prepared Riza Hawkeye, was the only one at the ready. Her hand was on the holster at her hip.
In front of her was a woman in white and a huge beast of a man in a brown shirt that easily was Armstrong's equal in both height and girth. He didn't look angry, but he had his huge arms crossed and a stern expression on his face. The shorter woman was visibly upset, speaking loudly.
" -have to tell me where they are!" the woman was saying.
"Is there a problem here, Lt. Hawkeye?" Roy's stern voice caused everyone in the room to turn to him.
"I need to find Edward Elric." the woman stated, flatly, her dark eyes boring into his. It was the first time in a long while that he had come close to withering under another person's gaze, and that made him nervous.
"I can assure you that I have no idea where he-"
Edward Elric, as was the norm in his life, picked the absolute worst timing- barging into the room and yelling at his commanding officer.
"Hey, Colonel Bastard. I-" his voice and body stopped dead.
Al, who still couldn't see what was happening thru the doorway pushed into the back of Ed when he suddenly stopped. "What is it, brother?"
He peered over Ed's shoulder, (which was rather easy for a 7 foot walking tin can) and peered inside.
"Tea- teacher?"
Author: SeaweedOtter
Characters: Roy x Ed and some implied Roy x Hughes...
Rating: R to NC-17 overall for language and nudity- (PG-13 for this chapter)
Warnings: The story goes somewhat AU after the end of episode 25 in the anime. I am still sort of keeping to canon events.
Summary: After the funeral for Maes Hughes, Roy was feeling rather... vulnerable.
Copyrights: The characters obviously belong to their creators, not me.
Author's notes: The first 5 chapters were pretty short, and I was finally starting to get some meat to the story with longer chapters. Sorry this chapter is kinda short again, but I had to end it where I did. I promise I will make the next one longer again, and sorry it took so long to update!
Read all the parts of the story so far HERE!
It took every ounce of Roy's willpower to get dressed that morning. His mind was still a whirl with what had transpired over the last 24 hours. It was all so much- and that didn't help the headache that he was already developing from the scotch he had imbibed the night before.
Getting out of the shower was a bit awkward. Roy had left first to let Ed think for a few minutes. Despite being very unsure that leaving an unstable at best Edward Elric to think about such volatile things, he was pretty sure that staying with him would be worse.
Roy had gotten dressed in record time, making sure he was already out of the bedroom by the time Ed eventually left the bathroom. He had a half hearted attempt at breakfast already made and plated for Ed when he entered the room- more silent
that he had ever seen the moody teen- with quickly whipped up eggs and toast.
Ed, the notoriously ever hungry Ed, hardly touched his meal and had left quickly after, making some excuse about his brother needing him and some work that he had to get done. Roy couldn't help but watch Ed walk down the winding path from his doorway to the road. He had insisted on calling Havoc to give him a a ride, but Ed wouldn't hear of it.
"Stubborn idiot." Roy mumbled under his breath, a smile on his face while he watched Ed's blonde ponytail skip and and forth between his shoulderblades with each uneven step. He watched untill Ed had turned the corner and faded out of view.
"Good lord, I think I might like that damn stubborn idiot." He shook his head and turned around, closing the door softly behind him.
It was going to be a long day.
________________________________________________________________________
"How are you doing, sir?" Hawkeye asked with genuine concern when Roy stepped into the office, his hair still lightly wet and mostly disheveled. "You know, you were told that you didn't have to come in today. We understand."
Roy smiled gently. His head was pounding from the alchohol he had consumed last night, and spinning the morning. He walked past the surprised and confused looks of his fellow soldiers and towards his office door. "It's okay, Hawkeye. I need to keep working. I can't dwell on..." he paused, his smile dropping.. "on what happened. I have to keep going, for him."
'For him.' Roy thought. For Hughes, or for that short alchemist who had already wormed his way into his mind? He gently rubbed his temples and quickly grabbed a glass of the black water that someone claimed was coffee on the way into his office, closing the door lightly.
It was definatly going to be a long day.
___________________________________________________________________________
"Brother, are you alright? I know you were at Colonel Mustang's yesterday. He... didn't say or do anything to upset you, did he?"
"No, Al. it is fine. I guess I just didn't think that Lt. Col- er, Brigadeer General Hughes' death would affect me so much. I guess it just took a day for it to sink in."
"Oh, okay." Al slumped his giant shoulders. Ed could hear the sadness in his tinny voice. It was almost like it was just hitting him as well. "But.. you would tell me if something was wrong- right brother?"
"Of course, Al."
"Okay."
Ed sighed. He hated lying to his brother, but trying to explain to him what had happened the night before wasn't something that he could do right now. He wasn't even sure what he thought about it himself. At least his brother didn't seem to see thru his ruse. He was still the sweet, gentle, naive brother that he had been before he was turned into a giant tin can. He wasnt a manipulative bastard, like the man Ed worried that might he have been getting feelings for.
Ed sighed. All of this was putting him in a rather bad mood.
_____________________________________________________________________________
Roy rubbed his temples again, reading the letter on the official stationary with the State seal. He was being sent back to Central. At least he had been able to convince the general that he should be able to take a few of his subordinates with him.
He smiled as he looked at the chess set that now graced his desk. Somehow, he got the feeling that game had been almost TOO easily won.
He picked up one of the white pawns, turning it gently over in his hand, running his calloused finger over the nooks and crannies of the scrimshawed game piece. "A pawn." he said, to his empty office.
He shrugged and put the piece back down with the rest. "I guess it doesn't matter either way. This should be a step up for me. I know I need to keep going, and Central is my best chance to continue with my plan. Maes wouldn't want me to stop now." He sighed, a frown working its way onto his tired face.
"Now.. what to do with Edward Elric..."
___________________________________________________________________________
Any further thoughts were interrupted by voices from the outside office a short time later. "You can't come in here!" he heard Hawkeye the stern, commanding voice that she usually reserved for Roy when he was procrastinating (yet again) on getting his paperwork done.
"Where are they?" He heard another woman's voice, a voice Roy didn't recognize.
"I don't know." Hawkeye replied. Roy had already pulled his white glove with the red salamander array embroidered on the back out of the drawer in his desk, where it always hid, and onto his hand. In a heartbeat, he was out the door and quickly assessing the situation- his finger already poised to strike if needed.
In the room was his normal group of subordinates. They were all standin-, Fuery was at the phone, finger on the rotary, about to call someone. Havoc, as usual, just looked dumbfounded. Falman and Breda were wearing about the same look as Havoc. Hawkeye, brave and always prepared Riza Hawkeye, was the only one at the ready. Her hand was on the holster at her hip.
In front of her was a woman in white and a huge beast of a man in a brown shirt that easily was Armstrong's equal in both height and girth. He didn't look angry, but he had his huge arms crossed and a stern expression on his face. The shorter woman was visibly upset, speaking loudly.
" -have to tell me where they are!" the woman was saying.
"Is there a problem here, Lt. Hawkeye?" Roy's stern voice caused everyone in the room to turn to him.
"I need to find Edward Elric." the woman stated, flatly, her dark eyes boring into his. It was the first time in a long while that he had come close to withering under another person's gaze, and that made him nervous.
"I can assure you that I have no idea where he-"
Edward Elric, as was the norm in his life, picked the absolute worst timing- barging into the room and yelling at his commanding officer.
"Hey, Colonel Bastard. I-" his voice and body stopped dead.
Al, who still couldn't see what was happening thru the doorway pushed into the back of Ed when he suddenly stopped. "What is it, brother?"
He peered over Ed's shoulder, (which was rather easy for a 7 foot walking tin can) and peered inside.
"Tea- teacher?"